In the field of harness racing, a race horse pulls a two-wheeled cart, or sulky, having a pair of shafts which are attached to a harness saddle circling the horse's body. A breast strap extending across the horse's chest and attached to the saddle or to the shafts by traces may also be used. As the horse runs, it rolls from side to side, i.e., its weight shifts from side to side. This motion is transmitted to the sulky, tending to cause the sulky to fish-tail, or zig-zag, on the track, and to waste the horse's energy. Any side to side motion transmitted to the sulky thus detracts from the forward motion and related momentum of the horse.
Typically, a thimble over the end of each shaft and attached by a strap to the harness may be used to transmit the horse's motion to the sulky. A safety strap attached to the saddle and wrapped around the shaft is often used to ensure that the shafts do not become disconnected from the saddle. Both of these latter devices also contribute to the fish-tailing effect.
It is also desirable to reduce or eliminate skidding of the sulky on the tracks, which tends to occur when making a turn or changing lanes. The three connections referred to above create a barrier to the ability of the horse and sulky to negotiate a turn. This is due to all the force being directed in a straight line. Thus, the horse upon entering a turn at a high rate of speed tends to be forced ahead and toward the outside, and, at the same time, into a more level position even though the turn is banked. This contributes to the loss of distance, time, and racing position.
Attempts have been made to overcome the above-noted disadvantages of the conventional systems for hitching a horse to a sulky by using various ball-joint arrangements. U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,157, for example, discloses a coupling assembly for securing the shafts of a sulky to a saddle wherein a pair of coupling frames are secured to a saddle and are connected to the shafts through a coupling block having a ball-and-socket permitting rotational movement of the shaft relative to the saddle. Each coupling block is secured to a coupling frame by a coupling pin and cotter pin. U.S. Pat. No. 4,326,367 also discloses the use of a pair of ball joints in a device for joining the shafts of a sulky to the harness of a horse. U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,991 discloses a harness connector device wherein a pin secured to the harness fits into a first ball joint connected through a linking member to a second ball joint, which in turn is connected to a shaft.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,000 discloses a so-called “single-hitch” sulky utilizing a yoke which overlies and is attached to the saddle of a horse harness. In practice, such a yoke has been connected to the sulky shafts by longitudinally adjustable sleeves, the posterior ends of which fit over the front ends of the sulky shafts. Such sleeves may be adjustably fitted over the sulky shaft to vary the distance from this connection to the cart. This type of hitch, however, can cause instability, in that the sulky has a tendency to tip over.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,059 issued to Boutilier discloses a device for connecting a sulky shaft to a harness. A harness pin assembly is fixedly mounted on a harness saddle and the harness pin projects outwardly from the saddle at an angle of approximately 90 degrees. A releasable locking device on the harness pin is positioned intermediate the saddle and the outer end of the pin. A connector assembly, for releasably connecting the harness pin assembly to the shaft, comprises a housing member which can be secured to the shaft by straps or the like. The housing member is provided with a ball-retaining aperture, and a ball member is rotatably secured in the ball-retaining aperture and is provided with a cylindrical aperture through the center thereof, the aperture having a diameter adapted to receive the harness pin. A collar member extends from opposite sides of the ball member so as to limit the rotation of the ball member in the housing. The locking device is adapted to permit the harness pin to be inserted into the cylindrical aperture past the locking device when the locking device is in an unlocked position and then lock the ball member on the harness pin when the harness pin is in a normally locked position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,301 issued to Garland & Boutilier discloses a sulky cart that leaves shafts with off-set forward end portions. The sulky cart is releasably attached to an off-set elongated sleeve member with a connector assembly on the forward end of the sleeve member. The connector assembly contains a rotatable ball with a central aperture for sliding over a harness pin secured to and extending from a harness saddle. The harness pin is provided near its outer end with a normally locked locking device, so that the cart can be hitched to the saddle harness by sliding the harness pin and locking device through the central aperture in the ball.
Use of the above Boutilier and the Garland & Boutilier devices permit vastly improved times and performances, and previously difficult to handle horses have been observed to race more evenly when such devices are used.
However, such previous devices presently in use can cause the horse to be pushed to the outside of the turn through centrifugal force and the skidding motion of the sulky. It should be noted that turns are entered by race horses at speeds up to 35 miles per hour. The inside shaft of the currently used devices which are solidly affixed to the sulky arch, pushes forcefully against the side of the racehorse and causes the horse to lean into the shaft in order to negotiate the turn. This loses time for the horse and fatigues it as well thus causing lameness due to the stress on the knees, ankle, hocks, fetlocks and pasterns.
It has now been determined by tests on the track that the present invention provides still further improvements in sulky and harness design and performance, and use of the present invention enables the driver to have still further improved control and feel during a race.